Conveyer.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

GEORGE W. KING, OF MARION, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE MARION STEAM SHOVELCOMPANY, OF MARION, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 8, 1905. Serial No. 263,534.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. KING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Marion, in the county of Marion and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Conveyers, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to conveyers, and more particularly to beltconveyers, the spe* cific type involved being that in which the upper orconveying portion of the belt is supported by rollers which give it atrough-like form in order to retain thereon the material operated upon.The invention is applicable to all conveyers of this type, but isparticularly designed for use in connection with the stacker, so called,of a gold-mining dredge, whereby the spoil or waste material is carriedaway from the dredge and delivered at a distant point.

The object of my present invention is to provide a simple andinexpensive and at the same time efficient and durable construction forthe rollers which support the belt.

To this end my invention consists in certain novel features which I willnow proceed to describe and will then particularly point out in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partlybroken away, of a stacker or conveyer embodying my invention in oneform. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken centrally through oneof the rollersupports for the upper or conveying portion of the belt;and Fig. 3 is a similar view through one of the roller-supports for thelower or return portion of the belt.

In the said drawings I have shown my invention as applied to agold-mining dredgestacker of the character hereinbefore referred to, 1indicating the frame of the stacker, 2

the belt, and 3 the pulleys at the ends of the stacker, around which thebelt passes and by means of which it is driven, one being adriving-pulley and the other an idle pulley. It is to the constructionof the intermediate rollers supporting the belt between these twopulleys that my present invention more particularly relates. One of therollers or group of rollers, of which a plurality is employed to supportthe upper or conveying portion of the belt, is shown in Fig. 2. Thisconstruction comprises a shaft 4, mounted to rotate in suitablebearings, each of which comprises a bearingsleeve 5, having a downwardlyextending lug 6, apertured for a pivot-pin, as indicated at 7. This lugextends downward between,

two upwardly-extending lugs 8, forming part of a bracket or base 9, thebase and sleeve which constitute the bearing being connected by atransverse pivot-pin 10, passing through all three lugs. By reason ofthis construction the bearing-sleeves 5 aremade self-alining, being freeto automatically adjust themselves to the shaft 4 and prevent binding ofsaid shaft in suitable sleeves if the supporting-frame 1 becomesdistorted under the strains to which it is subjected. The shaft 4 is ofsuch a length that it terminates some little distance inward from theouter ends of the bearing-sleeves 5, and these latter are internallythreaded to receive screwplugs 11, which may be removed to permit theintroduction of a suitable lubricant, preferably in the form of agrease. These screwplugs are then reinserted and serve to retain thelubricant in position, also serving as a force-feed device therefor,since by screwing them farther into the bearing-sleeve the lubricant canbe forced into the bearings as required.

As hereinbefore stated, the shaft 4 is a rotatory shaft, and on itscentral portion there is secured, so as to rotate therewith, acylindrical roller 12, which supports the central portion of theconveyer-belt. This roller may be of any suitable construction, and Ihave shown it as comprising a hollow cylindric body, preferably of sheetmetal, mounted on the heads or end pieces 13, which are secured to theshaft 4 by set-screws 14. This central roller is of less length than theportion of the shaft 4 lying between the bearlngsleeves 5, thus leavingspaces on said shaft at each end of the central roller between it andsaid bearing-sleeves, and on these parts of said shaft there are looselymoimted frustoconical rollers 15, the hubs 16 of which fit between thebearing-sleeves 5 and the ends of the central roller 12, thereby holdingthe shaft and central roller against end motion. These conical rollersserve to turn up the lateral edges of the conveyer-belt and give thesame a trough-like form, so as to retain the material thereon andprevent it from dropping off at the sides. Since these rollers arenecessarily of larger diameter than the central roller and derive theirmotion like it from the belt, their speed of rotation is less than thatof the central roller, and by mounting them loosely on the shaft 4 I amenabled to mount all of the rollers of each group on a common shaft,thus dispensing with separate shafts or bearings for the edge-supportingrollers and at the same time avoiding any sliding friction between therollers and belt.

The hubs or sleeves 16 of the rollers 14 are provided with threadedlubricant-passages 17, in which oil-cups 18 may be mounted to properlylubricate the bearings of said loose rollers on the shaft 4. V

In Fig. 3 I have shown one of the rollers which supports the returnportion of the belt, the same being a cylindrical roller 19, secured ona shaft 20, which is mounted in bearing-sleeves 21, similar to thebearingsleeves 5. These bearing-sleeves 21 have lugs 22 ivoted betweenlugs 23 of supporting brac ets or bases 24 by means of a pin 25, thisconstruction being similar to the construction already described inconnection with the bearing-supports of the shafts 4. In this case alsothe shaft 20 does not extend to the ends of the bearing-sleeves 21, andscrewplugs 26, threaded into the ends of the sleeves 21, serves topermit the introduction of and to retain the lubricant and also to feedthe same to the bearings as required.

- I do not wish to be undertstood as limiting myself strictly to theprecise details of construction hereinbefore described, and shown in theaccompanying drawings, as it is obvious that these details may bemodified without departing from the principle of my inven tion.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a belt conveyer of the character described, the combination, witha stackerframe, of belt-supporting rollers, rotating shafts on whichsald rollers are mounted, and end-supporting bearings for said shafts,each bearing comprising a bearing-sleeve to receive the shaft and a baseor bracket secured to the frame, said sleeve and base being connectedby, a pivot transverse to the shaft, substantially as described.

2; In a belt conveyer of the character described, the combination, witha stacker frame, of belt-supporting rollers, rotating shafts on whichsaid rollers are mounted, and end-supporting bearings for said shafts,each bearing comprising a bearing-sleeve to receive the shaft and a baseor bracket secured to the frame, said sleeve and base being providedwith pivot-lugs, two on one of said members, and one on the otherfitting between the other two lugs, and a pivot-pin passing through allof said lugs in a direction transverse to the shaft, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a belt conveyer of the character described, a belt-supportingroller and a rotating shaft secured thereto and extending beyond theends thereof, bearing-sleeves each having a bore of uniform diameteradapted to receive the ends of said shaft and which extend beyond theends of said shaft to form lubricant-chambers,said chambers being inalinement with said bearing portion of the sleeve, and a followeradapted to enter said chamber and positively feed the lubricant to saidbearing, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. KING.

Witnesses ROB RT G. LUCAS, WILLIAM R. SHIsLEn.v

